Love brought her to our shores. Since then, she has been showering this noble sentiment in this country she calls home. She is a born and bred German obstetrician and gynaecologist who met her other half in Toronto. She has lived here for 11 years and considers herself fully Mauritian.

Dr Brigitte Ng Kuet Leong is passionate about everything that touches her life from near or far. One of those subjects of interest that gets her clear blue eyes sparkling is nature. ?Have you seen the incredible beauty of the Maccabée forests?? she asks before launching into a passionate speech about forests preserved in their pristine state.

Then she gets agitated. This time, she is not too pleased. ?The corals are not being preserved. For a country that depends so much on the tourism industry, it is shocking that no one gives much thought to the damage being done to the corals. No corals mean no fish, no fish means no reefs, and then what??

The first time she heard of ?Mauritius?, was in 1981 in Toronto where the one who would later become her husband, told her he came from there. Her first reaction was: ?Do you have any coconut trees there?? she reminisces laughing. Brigitte is a happy woman. She has four children, she lives in a country that has won her heart and she has a flexible working arrangement with her husband ? also an obstetrician-gynecologist, who takes over her appointments when she has domestic obligations.

Her Creole is not fluent and her French is ?terrible?! No problem, she speaks English with those who do, the?others guess what I mean when I try and speak Creole? and with her family, it?s back to German. Note: her family includes her 18 dogs, two cats and two turtles. And they all understand German!!!

There is nothing about Germany that Brigitte misses. She has adapted to her life in Mauritius. She has also managed beautifully to fit her own culture and background into the very different one of her husband. He is a catholic of Chinese origin and she is a protestant German. The culture shock was impressive, she admits. She adds, ?Picture this. My mother-in-law, this wonderful person but otherwise very traditional, that her son is in love with a German. She was horrified. But then eventually, she gave the marriage her blessing.? And her parents? ?Oh, they weren?t impressed. But they came around,? she remembers, a smile playing on her lips.

Dr Ng Kuet Leong?s life in Mauritius has been and continues to be ?an exciting adventure?. She?s had bad times, good times, sad times, happy times? and she?s taken all of them in her stride. Thanks most of all to her sense of humour.

Brigitte is one of those rare people who can look you in the eye, smile the most beautiful smile that transforms her face and say in the most determined tone: ?I have no regrets in life.? Right on!